“The conference provided a very informative day, covering a varied range of topics and I found it interesting to see all the new developments and research. It was great that so many speakers who are top of the profession worldwide came to Dublin and I found it useful to get reaffirmation that we’re following good protocols and achieving the same success rates as those international leaders.” – Dr Eoin Fleetwood, Eyre Square Dental Clinic in Galway

Entitled Osseointegration Reimagined, Nobel Biocare’s Dublin Team Conference 2016 highlighted just how far dental implantology has come since those early days.

The full-day programme brought a piece of June’s Global Symposium in New York to Ireland, demonstrating Nobel Biocare’s total commitment to education and innovation. An array of world-class speakers took delegates on a journey through the development of dental implants, with lectures in the morning and smaller masterclasses and workshops in the afternoon.

From where it all began, Professor David Harris kicked off proceedings by paying tribute to Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark, before Dr Bertil Friberg reminisced about what dental implantology was like in the 80s. It seems strange to realise that only 20 years ago, patients had to wear a denture for one year before implants could be placed in healed extraction sites!

Professor Hannes Watchel, Dr Ana Ferro and Dr Paul O’Reilly then offered their own experiences from Munich, Lisbon and Ireland, each emphasising the benefits of implants for patients and their quality of life. Modern treatment options for compromised patients were also discussed, with Dr Dawood considering situations where customised implants, cutting-edge 3D printing and innovative ideas were combined to deliver truly life-changing solutions.

Exploring the height of implant innovation, the final plenary session challenged the status quo with respect to the digital integrated workflow and CAD/CAM restorations and highlighted the importance of respecting the soft tissue. Dr Rompen also introduced the exciting new On1 concept, which brings the restorative platform from bone level to tissue level for maximum soft tissue attachment and optimised healing.

Throughout the morning’s lectures, a clear trend developed. All speakers – regardless of specialism or nationality – were passionate about simplifying the clinical workflow for a faster, more predictable and more cost-effective procedure for the patient.

Dr Robert Bowe from Bowe Dental Clinic in Limmerick commented:

“This was a very well-organised conference, where speakers provided different, innovative solutions to implant problems we face every day. Throughout the morning sessions there was a lot of new evidence presented, as a result of which I will look to modify my own practice. As with all Nobel Biocare events, I learnt something new and came away with a renewed enthusiasm for implant dentistry. It is also great to have the opportunity to talk with colleagues – it’s reassuring to know that we all face the same challenges and that there are solutions out there!”

In addition to all this, there were plenty of opportunities to network with industry-leading professionals, while also catching up with friends and colleagues. The Innovation Evening saw delegates and speakers come to together to enjoy a fantastic meal and entertainment, and a great time was had by all.

Paul O’Reilly, Scientific Co-Chair, added:

“Nobel Biocare is to be commended for assembling an impressive array of national and international speakers for this conference. As well as some outstanding lectures, a programme of hands on workshops and masterclasses allowed attendees to try innovative products, learn new techniques and gain an appreciation for the rapid advances that are occurring in treatment options for our patients.”

For more information, contact Nobel Biocare on 0208 756 3300, or visit www.nobelbiocare.com

Denplan is celebrating another successful award win after their NHS if campaign was named ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ at today’s FMC Dental Industry Awards 2016. (Denplan Marketing Team Pictured above.)

Denplan has been running the if (“In Front”) marketing campaign since March 2016. The aim of the campaign has been to inform and engage dentists about NHS dental contract reform and help them consider how any future changes to the present NHS contract could impact their practice going forward, both in terms of patient care and profitability

The NHS campaign was featured across the dental trade press in 2016, as well as featuring prominently on GDPUK.com. 

The award ceremony took place at lunchtime on Friday 18 November at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington and was a well-dressed event attended by many of the dental industry’s leading names.

The judging panel was led by renowned dentist Dr David Houston and over 20 of the dental industry’s most experienced professionals. 

The Dental Industry Awards were created in 2015 to acknowledge excellence in the UK dental industry and to reward progress, effort and enterprise across a number of different categories from marketing and PR, social media, events, teams and customer service.

The ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ award category was created for the company or brand who were judged to have used the most effective mix of marketing in its promotional work over the last year. Denplan were up against stiff competition in their award category from Implantium, Leca Dental Laboratory, Oasis and Stockdale Martin.

Jolian Howell, Head of Marketing at Denplan, said: “I am delighted that the Denplan marketing team has won this award and received the recognition that they deserve. Our ‘if’ campaign has demonstrated the thought leadership centred around NHS contract issues within the dental industry. We have used a wide mix of activity from trade press advertising, online banners, PR and social media, to seminars and research, and plan to continue developing the campaign throughout 2017.”

For more information on the if campaign, visit www.denplan.co.uk/if-nhs

Notes to Editors: 

About Denplan 

Denplan Limited is the UK’s leading dental payment plan specialist owned by Simplyhealth; with more than 6,500 member dentists nationwide caring for approximately 1.7 million Denplan registered patients. Established in 1986 by two dentists who pioneered the concept of dental payment plans, Denplan has been at the heart of dental care for nearly 30 years. Today, Denplan has a wide range of dental plans for adults and children, enabling patients to spread the cost of their private dental care through a fixed monthly fee. Denplan supports regular attendance and preventive care, reducing the need for clinical intervention and helping patients to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. Patient enquiries telephone: 0800 401 402   Dentist enquiries telephone: 0800 328 3223. www.denplan.co.uk

·         Denplan Care: all routine and restorative care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Denplan Essentials: routine care only + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Plans for Children: routine and other agreed care + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Membership Plan: registered with the dentist + worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover 

·         Hygiene Plan: A dental payment plan without dental insurance for all types of practice from NHS, mixed and private to support patients commit to a consistent hygiene programme.

·         Denplan Emergency: worldwide dental injury and dental emergency cover only 

·         Corporate Dental Plans: company funded, voluntary and flexible benefit schemes 

Denplan also provides a range of professional services for its member dentists and their practice teams, including the Denplan Quality Programme, Denplan Excel Accreditation Programme and Denplan Training.  Plus regulatory advice, business and marketing consultancy services and networking opportunities.

Sarah Weston (pictured above) has been working for {my}dentist – a member of the Association of the Dental Groups (ADG) – since 2013 and currently works in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Here, she explores what a normal day entails…

I qualified from Guy’s hospital in 1996 and have worked in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. I have worked across most sectors of the profession – as a house officer in New Zealand, in NHS and private practices and as a partner and an associate.

At my current practice in Woodbridge, we are predominately NHS in a small market town, but do offer a range of private services. With an interesting demographic of patients we get the chance to utilise all our skills. It is a busy practice as we routinely see 25-30 patients a day. I am lucky that I work with a really great team and most of us have worked together for a while now. It’s good to be with other people who understand the stress and strains of the job and can have a good laugh together at times.

I work full time so my days tend to be fairly similar. I start with a coffee then move on to checking day-lists, patient records and lab work etc. I hate surprises so I like to know what’s coming. I spend my day performing a mix of examinations and treatments with the odd interesting case thrown in.

I also offer facial aesthetic procedures and have recently been on the denture excellence course. It is great to be able to offer such a wide choice of treatment options to patients and the denture excellence has really taken off. It’s an area I really enjoy as a good denture can make so much difference to someone’s quality of life. I am hoping to undertake an implant restoration course soon as well, so I will be able to restore the implants placed by colleagues at local practices in the group.

Since working for the corporate I have also become a mentor, which has definitely been a highlight for me. It is a role I really enjoy, as after 20 years in the job it is nice to pass on some of my experience to the younger generation. I had a great VT instructor when I started and I hope I can be as good to new associates as he was to me. It’s a job that is mutually beneficial – it is extremely rewarding to see a mentee improve and gain in confidence and it does the same for the mentor.

Within the corporate we are so lucky to have a high level of support from practice and area managers through to clinical support managers (CSM) and clinical directors. They are there to help prevent small problems becoming larger ones. I know that the ‘red flags’ and KPIs can feel intrusive at times, but I do feel they are there to help clinicians above everything else. A visit from the CSM should be seen as a positive thing and I am lucky to have a great CSM in my area. One thing I have learned is that it can be lonely in the independent sector and there is no-one looking out for you in the same way. I think the support network available is the real strength of corporate dentistry.

We are also incredibly lucky to have the online academy and the reminder to complete CPD when it is required. This can be a burden for dentists and if there is any way to make it easier then we should be grateful! My practice manager keeps us in check with when our CPD is due and the opportunity to complete it online is a great help, especially when I am busy in practice five days a week. Overall, I feel that my move to {my}dentist was the best thing I could have done for my career. The opportunities are there to further my career in ways that I didn’t feel existed in the independent sector.

Having worked for most of my career in the independent sector I was aware of the negative press surrounding corporate dentistry before I joined the group, but I have to say that those rumours were all unfounded. In fact, I feel quite passionately that new graduates are still being given that negative message and as a company we should try to give the next generation the facts and talk to them directly.

I enjoy my job enormously but I would relish the chance to move out of the surgery environment a little in the coming years. I would like to expand on my mentoring role and continue with more training and support of new dentists and I hope I can achieve this within the company.

For more information about the ADG visit www.dentalgroups.co.uk

Pathological tooth wear (also known as tooth surface loss) is on the increase, as indicated by the most recent Adult and Children’s Dental Health Surveys.^1,2

Recognising that tooth wear has the potential to be a serious issue in the UK in the future if preventive action is not fully embraced, its incidence and significance was recorded in the Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) for the first time in 1998, and this exercise was repeated in the latest offering. Comparison of the two surveys shows that in just 11 years the incidence of tooth wear in England has increased by 10%.¹

As for the Children’s Dental Health Survey, it tells us, for example, that 33% of 5-year-olds

demonstrated tooth surface loss (TSL) on one or more of the buccal surfaces of the primary upper incisors, while a quarter of 12-year-olds were reported to have TSL on the molars and the buccal surface of the incisors. In addition, 15-year-olds were shown to be more adversely affected than the 12-year-olds when TSL on the occlusal surface of molars was measured (31% compared to 25%).²

So, what does this mean in reality for dental professionals and patients looking to the future? As Poyser and colleagues (20015) so succinctly stated: ‘The prevalence of tooth wear is likely to escalate as life expectancy continues to increase. As people expect to retain their teeth throughout life this has important implications on the type of preventative and restorative care that the profession will need to provide in the future. This also has an implication for training and funding for dental services. The management of TSL and the eventual failure of restorations placed to manage this problem are likely to be a significant issue in future years.’³

Commenting on this worrying trend, Prof. Andrew Eder, said: ‘Irrespective of age and circumstance, patients need to be aware that, amongst other issues, poor drink and food choices, eating disorders, stress-related bruxism and traumatic oral hygiene measures can all cause considerable tooth wear.

‘Once the first signs of tooth wear are recognised, a partnership approach offers the most effective way in which to prevent further damage. Left in the dark, patients – especially those in the younger age groups – are likely to continue in ignorance with their destructive habits, which will have nationwide dental health repercussions for many years to come if the figures published in the most recent surveys are anything to go by.

‘So, if we are to have any chance of subverting the oral health outcome that the statistics indicate, it is incumbent upon all dental professionals to meet this challenge head-on.’

The London Tooth Wear Centre^® offers an evidence-based and comprehensive approach to managing tooth wear, using the latest clinical techniques and an holistic approach in a professional and friendly environment.

For further information on the work of the London Tooth Wear Centre^®, please visit www.toothwear.co.uk, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 7486 7180.

References

1. Adult Dental Health Survey 2009. Report 2: Disease and related disorders. Health and Social Care Information Centre 2011

2. Children’s Dental Health Survey 2013. Report 2: Dental disease and damage in children: England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Health and Social Care Information Centre 2015

3. Poyser NJ et al. The Dahl Concept: past, present and future. BDJ 2005; 198: 669-676

Professor Andrew Eder is a Specialist in Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics and Clinical Director of the London Tooth Wear Centre^®, a specialist referral practice in central London. He is also Professor/Honorary Consultant at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute and Pro-Vice-Provost and Director of Life Learning at UCL.